Forem: Andrew Bonacci

Updates and Such!

Andrew Bonacci — Wed, 07 Sep 2022 03:15:18 +0000

Hello, everyone!

On this day last year, I started my web development and programming journey at Perpetual Education. I worked with an awesome mentor and a wonderful group of colleagues. Sadly, when my mother passed away a few months into the course, the hiatus set back my progress and I wasn’t able to continue, so I withdrew from the mentorship. I’m thankful, however, to have the opportunity to still see what my fellow developers are working on as well as the writings they publish.

Since my withdrawal back in June I’ve started balancing out things in my life and trying to meet the needs of my family. In addition to practicing what I learned about web development, I have started exploring aspects of computer science. I developed a fascination with computer communication. I am learning more about how backend stacks work as well as using CLI. Most recently I’ve been learning how to use Git with CLI and Terminal. My subsequent posts will have more details about these new ventures.

I hope everyone is doing well and I look forward to sharing things as they unfold!

Regards,

Andrew

Winds of Change...

Andrew Bonacci — Tue, 14 Jun 2022 02:40:59 +0000

It was with heavy heart that I informed my mentorship team at Perpetual Education that I would no longer be a part of their journey. Recent life events meant that I was merely pushing through rather than learning for understanding. As Derek said, PE should not become a to-do list, nor did I want it to become that. PE is an excellent program and I am thankful to have been a part of it. I’ll be in touch with my colleagues and mentor to see what awesome things they create. Also, this is not the end of my programming and development journey.

I’ve learned a lot from my time at PE, and I will continue to practice at my own pace. I am still going to write about my journey and my accomplishments moving forward, especially as I wade further into the ocean of programming and thinking like a programmer.

Stay tuned~

Web Accessibility

Andrew Bonacci — Thu, 21 Apr 2022 05:39:25 +0000

I am a former special education teacher. During my time in the classroom, I have worked with students who were diagnosed with blindness, deafness, and other physical disabilities. In order accommodate the needs of these students, assignments had to be accessible. Students who were legally blind would need adaptive devices to magnify their work. Students who were deaf or suffering from hearing loss would require a tactile approach. These adaptations proved useful in the classroom, but what about the web?

What is accessibility?

Before we jump into accessibility for the web, let’s take a closer look at what accessibility is. The dictionary by Merriam-Webster defines accessible as the capability of being reached, used, seen and understood. It also defines accessible as “easily used or accessed by people with disabilities : adapted for use by people with disabilities”. As mentioned earlier, I used methods of accessibility in my classroom. Now, let’s look at what it means for the web.

Then and Now

During the 90s, the internet was in its infancy, as was internet accessibility. Early websites were largely created using HTML markup which had functional results, however little options were available for people with disabilities despite accessibility being a founding principle of the internet. According to thehistoryoftheweb.com, one of the earliest ways for developers to measure accessibility was a tool called Bobby, which allowed developers to get a comprehensive accessibility report on their website.

As principles of web development have grown through the present day, so have principles of accessibility. The advent of HTML5 introduced elements that would become critical to accessibility through the use of screen readers, which will be discussed later.

Accessibility on the Modern Web

According to a11y.coffee, the current Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) are:

Perceivable: the user’s senses must be able to perceive the content.
Operable: users must be able use the website / interface.
Understandable: the information / website must be within users’ understanding.
Robust: information should remain accessible as the web evolves. There are various methods available to users for taking advantage of web accessibility. #### Screen Readers and Speech Recognition Screen readers are tools that provide verbal guidance on websites. These readers identify elements of a webpage and narrate them for the user. As mentioned earlier, HTML5 introduces elements that further assist screen readers and improve a website’s accessibility structure. Rather than using divs with classes or IDs alone, HTML5 uses tags such as header, nav, article, section, and footer. For tags that might be vague or don’t always have unique identifiers, using aria-label allows developers to add accessible names.

Speech recognition, on the other hand, takes human speech and transcribes into text which can be used for input on a website.

Keyboards

Users can access parts of a website just by using their keyboard. This method can also work in conjunction with screen readers. As users cycle through elements on the webpage, the screen reader will read each highlighted section aloud.

Screen Magnification

An accessible website will take advantage of a browser’s ability to magnify content. In terms of text size, a developer can set font sizes using rem units of measurement. For comparison, 1rem is equal to 16px font size.

Braille

Using Braille keyboards or keyboard covers allows users with loss of vision to locate specific keys. This would then be used in conjunction with keyboard accessibility to give users more control over a website.

Accessibility Needs Continue To Be Heard

The fight for an accessible internet is an ongoing, ever-changing climb. As accessibility options for users with special needs continue to be legalized, ways of making the internet accessible will become more prevalent. Developers should continue learning how to make their web creations usable by all so that everyone may benefit from the content therein.

Andrew

Carrying on

Andrew Bonacci — Wed, 02 Mar 2022 06:26:22 +0000

I’d like to apologize for my absence over the past two months. What was supposed to be a family Christmas turned into tragedy as my mother passed away from Covid complications. She had been battling lung cancer and though doing well, her immunity had been weakened from radiation treatments. Suffice it to say, it had a massive negative impact on my life. During the first two weeks of grieving, I took a break from my web development mentorship so I could get myself together.

Fast forward to almost two months since my mother’s passing, the feeling is still fresh in my mind but with the help of the wonderful people in my life and on my team at Perpetual Education, I’m moving forward and making accomplishments once again.

Our primary focus has been building up our portfolio websites using the tools and skills we’ve learned so far along with some of our projects to showcase. I found myself struggling to come up with a design / color scheme that I wanted to use, but I realized that I had to step back and build the basics before adding themes.

After joining a class session talking about using JSON to store data and later calling that data using PHP, I decided to begin my own data file for my site. I admit that it’s been a challenge thinking like a programmer, but given the fact that it’s been my desire for over a year now, I’m excited to learn more and put it to use.

I’ve also been working on making project modules responsive to different breakpoints. I’ll be meeting with Derek this week to discuss my progress and get a signoff from the group. I’ll be sharing the page as I get more accomplished.

In the words of Ivan Vanko, good to be back ;)

Andrew

Attention to Detail

Andrew Bonacci — Thu, 02 Dec 2021 02:23:17 +0000

It’s been quite an adventure so far at Perpetual Education. I appreciate many things about this mentorship and the help Derek is giving us, but for today I’d like to focus on details. That is, the importance of paying close attention to the details in coding and web development. Earlier in my writing series, I talked about writing as a way to avoid missing critical details. Think of this as a sort of extension of the prior.

Avoid Overlooking the Little Things

Part of the ongoing process at our mentorship is the creation of our portfolio. This could be in the form of a landing page, a multi-link site, etc. It’s up to us to use the tools Derek teaches us and craft something wonderful (and, of course, working together to bring it to life!).

When we’re excited to create a page that showcases what we’re capable of, it’s easy to want to move quickly toward the final product. This is where things can get sloppy if we act with haste rather than precision.

When writing your code, take your time and pay attention to the details! You might complete an HTML page only to find that you missed a closing tag somewhere along the way.

More Than One Pair of Eyes

Of course, no one is perfect, so it helps to have someone look over your code even after you’ve examined it thoroughly. That second set of eyes doesn’t have to be human, either; run your code through a validator to see what can be fixed. Got it right the first time around? Great! Even if you didn’t, it’s OK! Let it be a reminder to keep an eye out for the little things on future projects.

Happy coding!

Andrew

CSS Flexbox!

Andrew Bonacci — Fri, 26 Nov 2021 13:11:41 +0000

The challenge.

Over the past week and a half at Perpetual Education, our goal was to create a responsive webpage using this design template as guidance:

The template starts by showing us what the narrow form of the webpage should look like followed by two breakpoints as the window is expanded. After taking a good look at the sections of the template and opening up my boilerplate, I was ready to hit the ground running.

The process.

The first step was to break down each part of the webpage into sections. As Derek puts it, “everything is rectangles!” That is, every tag we use in HTML to build each part of website creates a box for content. Each box can then have its own boxes (parent > child).

After that was done, I started coding using the smallest screen first with the goal of expanding toward the two breakpoints. I knew that I had multiple sections to work with, so I kept in mind the question, “How can I position these sections to appear as needed at each breakpoint?”

My first run-through of the challenge was somewhat successful in terms of positioning the mid-page content as the page expanded. However, once I got to the second breakpoint, the content was not flexing as intended. At this point I decided to reach out to a classmate so we could work on it together. He helped me fix the content so that it was properly aligned as the page expanded.

After trying it myself and talking with my classmate, I watched Derek’s video outlining the creation process. I realized that I missed some of the background graphics, so I followed along with Derek’s coding to learn how to properly integrate them into the code. In addition, I fine-tuned some styling in areas such as the mid-section links, which were supposed to have gray-filled background colors with rounded corners (border radius).

The outcome.

While coding along with Derek’s video, I wasn’t only coding; I was comparing my code to his and learning where I could improve for similar future projects. Not only was this a great experience with CSS flexbox, I also learned more about how to organize code and name HTML classes. This will help me write code more efficiently and do so in way that makes it easier for fellow developers to read.

Here is my outcome.

Regards,

Andrew

Write, write, write it down!

Andrew Bonacci — Fri, 22 Oct 2021 03:42:40 +0000

Today I had a meeting with my mentor, Derek, over at Perpetual Education. I was confused about how to do something from a lesson the day before, so I asked if he could clarify some things about it and take a look at my code. Namely, this challenge required us to make the content of a webpage into a column while having the background extend the full width of the page. Sounds simple, right? In the end, it was.

Avoidable mistakes.

While attempting the challenge on my own, I was reviewing the instructions Derek had written as well as watching his video once more. While doing this, I was looking at the existing code of the webpage I was working on in order to see where I needed to make changes. As I was doing this, however, I was forgetting to do one critical thing: write it down. As a result, I started to feel somewhat overwhelmed. I lost focus and the whole thing became a mess.

The problem was not Derek’s instructions; his lesson was clearly written with each step explained in a way that was easy to understand. He’s a fantastic person who is more than willing to take the time to help his students. The problem is that I did not write down each step as he explained it. Doing so would have reinforced my understanding and allowed me to approach the challenge with proper scope and focus.

Be patient with yourself.

Give yourself an allotment of time to practice coding and be patient with yourself while you do. Write down what you study. Live it and breathe it; it will become clear to you. If for any reason it doesn’t, reach out! Ask for help. Many mistakes and roadblocks are avoidable if we follow these simple steps.

Best,

Andrew

To frame, or not to frame...

Andrew Bonacci — Wed, 13 Oct 2021 04:02:57 +0000

iFrames

Today I had a little history lesson over at Perpetual Education. Derek gave us a background on iFrames and what they are used for. Essentially, they are sections of a website that function as windows of information nested in areas chosen by the developer. Aesthetically speaking, they seem easy to use, but… how effective are they?

Searchable, or…?

The key concern with iFrames is that they are not searchable because they are not linked. The content is visible to those who happen to find the page, but apart from seeing it directly on that page, it would be difficult to find. As Derek puts it, iFrames are “empty skeletons!”. So, if you want your page to be noticed in all its glory through SEO (search engine optimization), then you’ll want to be sure you’re not using iFrames for content that you want to be searchable.

On a side note, Carbon: A simple yet powerful sharing tool.

My friend and fellow developer Budi Alfian Zainudin shared with me a nice little tool for sharing pieces of your code in a beautiful manner. This tool is called Carbon. Check it out the next time you want to show what you’ve been working on!

Example of Carbon from their website.

Happy coding everyone!

Andrew

Team Work!

Andrew Bonacci — Tue, 12 Oct 2021 05:24:27 +0000

Make It Happen Together.

Over this past weekend, I spent some time with fellow developers from our mentorship program at Perpetual Education. Together we talked about projects we were working on and helped each other by checking for code errors and potential areas of improvement. What I enjoyed the most about this was the open-mindedness that everyone on the team had. We shared laughs along the way as we worked to improve our projects.

This is one critical aspect that is reinforced throughout the Perpetual Education curriculum. In addition to having lots of opportunities to talk with our mentor, Derek, we also have opportunities to work with each other. Team work is further practiced through our daily stand-up, which is used by developers to share what they’ve been working on, what they’re assigned and if there are any problems or concerns encountered.

Learn From Each Other.

Let’s face it: no one achieves great things completely on their own. On our life’s journey, we encounter people who help us along the way. As developers, it’s vital that we take the time not only to learn on our own, but also to learn from each other. I am enamored with the amount of things that I am learning in my mentorship from everyone involved. Every day I am challenged to think about web development with a fresh perspective. No matter how far along we are, there is always something new to learn.

Regards,

Andrew

Take Chances and Push Forward.

Andrew Bonacci — Mon, 04 Oct 2021 20:00:20 +0000

Lessons from the final frontier…

I’m a big Star Trek fan. I started watching Star Trek: The Next Generation (TNG) and Star Trek: Voyager (VOY) with my father when I was a child in the 90s and grew to like all of the other series. I’ve always been fascinated by the life lessons and philosophy that many episodes present. However, there is one particular episode from TNG that stuck with me: it’s the episode called Tapestry.

“The tapestry of my life…”

In the episode Tapestry, Captain Jean-Luc Picard is killed on a mission. He then awakens to find himself in a sort of “afterlife” with Q, an omnipotent being who makes appearances throughout the Star Trek series. Picard expresses life regrets to Q, who then gives him a chance to restart his life and make different choices. In the alternate life, Picard no longer takes risks or chances, and subsequently experiences a dreary life unnoticed by others. Picard tells Q that he would rather die the man he was than live the life he had just seen.

“There were loose threads, untidy parts of me that I’d like to remove. But when I pulled on one of those threads, it had unraveled the tapestry of my life.”

Imagine yourself 5, 10, even 15 years from now. What would you tell your past self? Will you regret stepping up, taking risks and chances to get noticed? Will you regret voicing your concerns or having your questions be heard? Would you have preferred to live a life of near-silence and solitude, not having reached your full potential? Had you gone back and undid some of the things that made your future self successful, you’d be unraveling the tapestry of your life.

Reach for the stars.

It is imperative to take leaps if you want to push forward and have your work get recognized. It’s also important to understand that we have to face failure in order to grow, and that’s okay. We’re not here to be perfectionists. We’re here to learn and grow together. As my mentor at Perpetual Education, Derek, says, “the goal isn’t to do it right the first time; the goal is to see the different ways people think about it.”

Keep this in mind as you pursue your programming path, or whichever path you choose. Get out there and give it your best. Make mistakes and learn from others. You can do this.

Andrew

New Beginnings.

Andrew Bonacci — Thu, 30 Sep 2021 16:26:44 +0000

Who I am…

My name is Andrew Bonacci. I'm 31 years old, happily married and have recently embarked on a web development journey. I had my first try at HTML back in the early 2000s on the blogging website called Xanga. 14-year-old me thought it was so cool that I could make text do different things by modifying the markups. As time went on, I had some practice with Lua in ROBLOX when I was a late teenager. I didn't get very far because I lacked proper guidance, but I was able to tinker with some of the code and bring my creations to life.

However, as much as I enjoyed these things, they never became much more than a hobby. Rather, I pursued education because of my desire to make a difference in the lives of others. Even throughout my time as an educator, the one constant has always been software and technology. Other people I worked with would often ask me for help with their software or hardware issues. The more I did this, the more I felt a desire to pursue something I felt I should have done long ago.

The turning point.

Knowing that I wanted to pursue web development and not knowing where to begin with self-study, I began researching possible classes and programs. The first thing I noticed was the number of software boot camps…

Some of these sounded promising in the beginning, but one thing that most had in common was that they were leading with potential income in various software and web development careers. Of course, a nice salary is always a plus, but I felt like those places were not focused on the passion of it all. I wanted to be a part of a course that focused on the love of web development and programming; I’m inspired by those who want to consistently grow and learn more about it.

In the summer of 2021, while continuing my search for ways to learn programming and development, I came across a Reddit post talking about a mentorship program through Perpetual Education. I was fascinated by their website and by how precise their points about learning were, so I decided to schedule a video interview with Derek and Ivy. They were super friendly, welcoming and they gave me an overview of how the course works. I knew then that I wanted to be a part of it. What I love the most about Perpetual Education so far is the strong sense of community among students and staff. Students help each other with lesson content and Derek is highly flexible when it comes to working with students individually.

The course really breaks things down and starts from the very beginning; so far, we've learned about operating systems, the file system, visual design concepts, how certain things in software came to be the way they are, and more. The idea is to build a strong foundation and mold the way we think so that we don't just learn the code, we learn how to think like web designers and programmers. There is a good deal of accountability (which is absolute must!); it's crucial to keep up with the content and do your best to go above and beyond what is expected of you, but it's a wonderful experience so far. I've learned more in almost 3 weeks than I've learned in months trying things on my own. The students in my group are currently working on a collaborative project which brings us together even more.

In conclusion…

I feel happy to be a part of the Perpetual Education learning experience and I'm confident that this will help me on my web development journey. If anyone would like to know more, I welcome you to reach out! I'll be sharing more about my experiences as they unfold, so please feel free to subscribe. I’m always open to learning from others and sharing ideas!

Regards,
Andrew